WHILE Orient's Cup run ground to a crashing halt at Goodison Park on Saturday, Paul Brush was keen to point out that his Third Division side were still able to hold their heads high.

He said: "We've come out of the game with a lot of credit. We battled all the way through and although I don't like losing I am still satisfied.

"I didn't think we froze. We tried to help each other out and when we had the ball we did show that we were capable of moving it around and there were some good moves that would have graced a higher division.

"We didn't fold after the second goal which we could have done in front of more than 30,000 people who were backing the home side.

"We really dug in and the most positive thing I could take from the game was the resolve shown after conceding that goal.

"We have played ever so well in our four Cup games but I would have swopped those for four League games. The players have shown that they can play with some class and quality, and they can work hard, but we need to do that consistently.

"However you hope players come and enjoy games like this, you tell them to before the match that this is a big stadium and we had nothing to lose.

"There was an element of fortune about the first two goals we conceded and to keep playing after that especially as confidence isn't that high at the moment, was really good.

"We got ourselves back in the game with a terrific move to create the goal and then we were on top but I really wanted us to get through to half-time at 2-1.

"But it was a terrible time to concede the third goal, which settled their fans and players down but we worked really hard in the second half and didn't give too much away.

"Recently we have conceded too many goals and on the day we did work hard to restrict Everton's chances. The goal we scored was a great moment but overall there was lots to give us encouragement.

"And while it would have been an even bigger morale booster to keep a clean sheet in the second half Gascoigne's class on the ball told when he created the fourth goal, but if the players deliver those sort of performances in the next few weeks then there's a lot to play for this season.

"But first of all we need to get a couple of wins under our belt, but we have got enough quality at this club to cope with the Third Division, we just need to apply ourselves consistently."